Got new shoes today. The are Mizuno Wave Inspire 8, size 8.5 from Rogue Equipment. Also bought 4 pairs of socks, and some Body Glide. I’ll see in the next few days how these running shoes work out.
Category Archives: Race results
CIM Marathon
Trip out was very uneventful. Made all the connection easily. Arrived on Friday and took the shuttle to the hotel. Went to the expo and got packet. Walked the expo looking for a pace band. Saw only “tattoos”. Bought one. Walked around found the movie theater and saw “Burlesque”. It was OK. Had sandwich at a local deli. Stopped by local drug store and got milk and some Special K cereal for breakfast. Dinner at 7:30 PM with the rest of the team. Had Pot Roast, and two beers. Chatted and talked and had a good time. Good people.
Time zone adjustment was to my favor except when waking at 2:30 AM (4:30 Austin time). Generally I was up and awake each and every morning. Had cereal. Was supposed to do 4-7, but heard 7-10. Did 7.4. Ran the ending 3.5 miles out and back. The Weather was 40s-50s, foggy, and overcast. Just right. Did it slowly, felt OK, but not great and realized that on Sunday that I should be conservative. Got back and took a shower. The warm water felt good. Overall I was positive and up and feeling that I could do it with little problem. Went to the expo again. This time to check on whether I needed to get a bus ticket, but my bib was all I needed. Ate lunch across the street and enjoyed watching the other runners going in and out of the expo and people going about their business. Got internet access to read e-mail, read blogs and get weather reports. Stayed in my room watching TV and just chillin’ until 3 PM and the course tour. It was nice traveling the route with the other team members. All pack together in a 15-person van. Like minded people. All positive; joking around. A sense of community. Steve talked us through the course and Ruth drove. Got back around 4:30 and relaxed in my room. Starting to prepare my stuff for tomorrow. Went out and got more milk. Had trouble getting the Garmin to find the satellites. Went to park across the street, but took minutes to synch. Went out and got soup for dinner and also ate 1/2 of my sandwich from lunch. At the 6 PM team meeting in the hotel. Steve went over our plan. Good ra-ra. Ruth and Steve would be at 5, 10, and 18. We can drop off stuff at 5 with him. He said that we should be conservative or slow for the first 18 and then pick it up. Sat next to Stephanie, and we agreed to meet and run together tomorrow. She wanted to break 4 hours and I was confident that I could help her there. I was supposed to go to dinner with Kim and others at 7:30 PM but I felt it was just too late and declined. Got back to the room, and finished my preparation.
Sunday got a wake up call and set two alarms. Got up without problems. Check the weather and was 54 degrees out. Cloudy. No wind. This is warmer than expected, but OK. I rarely use a drop off bag, but I used one this time. Put various clothing choices in it. Packed my cereal and milk in it too. Dressed with long sleeve shirt, singlet, shorts. Put on Garmin watch, pace band, and iPod. Went downstairs and got right on the bus. Bus left just after 5 AM. Sat next to Ron Banning who knows John Schrug from Albuquerque NM. Bus took forever. There were times when I thought we were lost, but nope we got there OK. Immediately upon arriving I trotted off to use the porta-potties. Came back to bus and had my cereal. Changed from long sleeve to short w/ singlet. Dropped off my bag and again went to the porta-potties. Met Stephanie near the 4 hour pace group. It was now about 6:45 AM. Steve told us to position ourselves on the far left (pace groups were on the far right). The gun went off. Tried to get the Garmin to synch, and it wouldn’t. Sheesh. Piece of crap. Luckily Stephanie’s Garmin was OK. I set mine on indoor and would just do splits (see below). No pace per mile for me. Old school. Cross the start line, and we’re on our way. Stephanie, who said she would not talk much, was chatting away calling off paces, etc. She’s sweet. I feel comfortable running with her. I’m not listening to my iPod. Running with someone causes me to think about them and not about me. After 0.9 miles we turned on Oak, and stayed on the left. No problem with the crowd. Up a slight rise and passed mile 1. No problem with my right calf muscle. Not tightening up like it did a week ago. Whew! I pushed my split. We’re about 10 seconds fast. We agreed that’s OK. Now the miles begin to click by and blur. We’re in the pastoral country side. We’re talking a bit, and making sure we’re both OK, and we are. Miles 2, 3, 4, 5. We’re warmed up, and we’re running a bit fast (10 secs per mile), but we’re OK. However, I’m getting worried about Stephanie. She seems to be breathing a little bit harder that I expect. I don’t say anything. I don’t want to worry her. I jokingly tell her that she said that she wasn’t going to talk. I take my Carbo Pro. It spills a bit and gets my hand sticky. At mile 5 we get water for the first time. Just after 5 we see Ruth and Steve and I drop off my Carbo Pro Belt and gloves. The course is constant rollers. Up and down. Some very small, some larger. We’re doing fine. Miles 6, 7, 8, 9. I get on my first Choco Clif shot. Stephanie is on my left about a foot behind me or next to me. I’m still worried about her. Is the pace too fast? It seems OK to me. We’re a bit fast, but by 5 to 10 seconds only. At mile 10 we see a Team Rogue singlet up ahead, and pass Rick. We encourage him as we pass him. We drop down heading toward the big hill, reach it, and climb it just after 10. It was nothing to worry about. I don’t remember seeing Steve at 10. Was he there? Stephanie says we’re at the back and he’s probably moved on up course for the faster runners. Miles 11, 12, 13, and we’re half way. We’re about 1 1/2 to 2 minutes ahead of pace. The rollers continue. Up and down. Up and down. I’m starting to breath harder. I’m surprised by this. It is too early. We really haven’t been pushing it whatsoever. Why is this happening? Yet at the same time I don’t realize it’s happening. Because we haven’t been talking. I tell Stephanie that I’m going to turn on my iPod to distract me. I’m starting to feel the intensity. This is very early. I’m now starting to push it a bit to keep the pace up. Looking back now I was starting to focus in on myself and to ignore the outside. Stephanie is still there, but I’ve now got to run my own race and she’s got to run hers. Miles 14, and 15 melt by. I get my second Choco Clif Shot. I nearly gag on it as I run. How awful. Get water at the next stop. Swallow a mouthful and realize it’s Ultimate. Ugh. Somewhere around here I started feeling my groin, but in time it went away. What was that all about? Now the race begins. I’m on my own. I know the hills begin to level out at 18, but I’m working to keep on pace. Miles 16, 17, and 18. Steve is in the middle and yells at me. I’m in my own world. I try to respond. To speed up. It’s hard. I’ve got 8 miles to go. I can’t relax or I won’t make my goal. I’m still about 1 1/2 minutes ahead of pace. I know that the flats are coming. I speed up a bit from Steve encouragement, and that’s the plan. I get some side stitches, so tell myself to breath deeper. Slowly over a few miles they dissipated. Again what was that all about? It is at this point that Stephanie and I separate. We’re each on our own. However we really started that back 5 miles ago when I started the iPod. From then on she just a body to my side. I’m sorry Stephanie. I thought I could be a better running partner. I’m so so sorry. My inner turmoil is rampant. Git ‘er done. I can do this. Keep it up. Mile 20 has a balloon arch and timing mats. I cross it. Only 6.2 to go. I think back to the last race prep. Those 6 long long miles on the track. My joy after that track workout when I realized that my pace was unexpectedly good. Mile 20 was my personal point to pick it up. Had my Mocha Clif Shot and water at the next aid stop. I normally feel the caffeine. Nothing happens today. I’m too deep in a hole for it to pull me up. But there is nothing in the tank. It is now a brutal march to the finish. I have to keep going. Keep up the pace. If I slip my pace too much I won’t make my goal. I keep pushing. Up and over the bridge. I’ve got tunnel vision. I can’t enjoy the view. I’m slogging it out. One mile at a time. We pass 55th Street. This was my end-point the day before. Now I’ve got 3.5 miles to go. The streets pass by. They decrease so so slowly. I feel like I’m in molasses. Time expands. We turn from J to L, but I can’t remember how far out it is. On I go. Keep pushing. I tell myself I can’t slack off. We pass 22nd, the numbers are now taking even longer to pass. I’m looking for 15th and the palm trees. I’ve been missing my splits. Where was mile 25, and 26. The last said 9:20. Argh! I’m now over pace. How long has that been happening? Have I missed my goal. Do I still have enough time to make it? Push. Push. Can’t let up. Turn the corner on 8th. Not much more now. Past the women’s chute. Turn on the men’s chute. Clock says 3:59:20 gun time. I’ll make it. On the mats, press my watch 3:58:13. I did it. But it’s a muted victory. Now I can finally relax. I did it. Under 4 hours. But not by much. Gosh that was awful. Awful. Just awful marathon. Get water. Drink. Drink. Get my well earned medal. Get more water. Refused the mylar blanket (big mistake). I can barely walk. My left knee is tightening up. My legs are too. I gimp along. I feel awful. The pain, the stiffness, the disappointment surpass any feeling of accomplishment. And why do I do this? What a black hole I have descended into to complete this thing. I can’t remember most of the last miles other than the constant fear of failing, the agony and having to push through it all. I can’t stay there. I can’t celebrate. I’m so so stiff. People are partying and I just don’t feel like it. I wonder about Stephanie. Did she make it? I failed her. I don’t stop to see if Stephanie finished. I assumed she is behind me. But how far? I’m so worried about her. If it was this hard for me what about her? Gotta get out of here. No food, no beer, nothing. My stomach couldn’t take it. My soul just wants me to crawl under a rock. I shuffle by the capitol and head toward the hotel. I’m getting cold. Cross the course on L street. Looking for a hole, timing my movements with my tight knees and stiff legs. Almost to the hotel. Starting to shake from the cold. Tremors. Shivers. Feel like I have Parkinson’s. Can’t stop it. Then realized I never picked up my drop bag. I’ve got to go back. Argh! Back 4 blocks. Shivering like crazy. Duck across the course again. Get drop bag and head out. Bought Coke. Need the sugar and caffeine. Trying to brighten my spirit. At hotel finally. Warm shower felt so very good.
I sit on the bed and try to ignore the ripples of tightness surfing my legs. Slowly I let the negative feelings go. I tell myself I’ve BQ’ed a second time. However the overall experience is tainted. The deep disassociation was why I had said three years ago that I was retiring from running the marathon. I came back to Boston qualify because I aged up to 60 and 4 hours. I remembered this year’s Austin marathon was spirit lifting having BQ’ed. I felt good running it. Not like this one. This one was the pits. I ask myself what other good and positive things came from this experience. I’m proud that I gutted it out. I stuck in there, “got ‘er done”, and reached my goal. The sense of community that Steve and Ruth have built is wonderful. The times the team was together this weekend have been extraordinary. I thoroughly enjoyed myself. I relaxed. Although I’m so much older than the rest of you, thank you for including me. There were runners to talk with, to share with, to laugh with, to be with. This is a good tribe. I’ve enjoyed the company of many runners from Brenda, to Amy, to Mamie, to Wren, and especially to speedy Kim. I sincerely appreciate Stephanie from running with her during class, to her greeting me after San Antonio half, and to her running with me today. She is a sweet and kind and sincere and good person. I appreciate all she has done to include me, to talk to me, to be my running buddy, and to forgive me for today. What other things? Well the course tour was great and helped alleviate the fear of the unknown for me. Thank you Steve for your coaching, your honesty, and your insights. I’m sorry if I disappointed you. You know I trust you and will do what I’m told. Thank you Ruth and Steve for arranging this whole thing and, I’m sure, so many other things that I’m not even aware of. Thanks for it all…
Here are my splits.
1 00:09:14 2 00:08:58 3 00:08:59 4 00:08:50 5 00:09:01 6 00:08:59* 7 00:09:00* 8 00:09:20 9 00:09:03 10 00:08:56 11 00:09:10 12 00:09:11 13 00:09:06 14 00:08:59 15 00:09:03 16 00:09:06 17 00:08:56 18 00:08:59 19 00:08:53 20 00:09:05* 21 00:09:05* 22 00:09:09 23 00:09:10 24 00:09:13 25 00:09:22* 26 00:09:22* 26.2 00:01:52* * = split missed, time divided evenly
San Antonio Half Marathon
The San Antonio Half Marathon was Team Rogue’s first race of the season. I arrived the day before just in time. I got to the hotel and walked about a mile to the Alamodome to pick up my packet, and they closed five minutes after I got there. Whew! No Expo for me. That was close. The half marathon was medium hard. All the training, all the distance, and all the early mornings have paid off.
But let me back up… The day before on my 7-10 mile long run I had to stop after about a mile. A muscle or two in my lower abdomen (groin?) suddenly started to burn going up Comal. I tried to walk it off, but it kept up, so I stopped running and walked back to Rogue. I was dumbstruck – what just happened. So I was very concerned. The race was tomorrow. I felt that my plans to push the half marathon the next day might be too much. So all I could do was say to myself – Take it easy and see how it feels in the morning. That night I was feeling OK, but sitting on the bed I could feel the muscle. Hmmm, what should I do, what should I do…
The next day I got up and dressed, had breakfast (cereal from the hotel), and headed over to the start line. I found my corral and then ran about a 1.5 miles warm up. The groin muscle was there, but it was greatly diminished. So I decided to run at my half marathon pace of 8:42 min/mile (overall time 1:53:48) and see how I felt. I got back to my corral and waited and waited. The weather was overcast, and in the mid 50s (degrees Fahrenheit). I had on shorts, short sleeve, and my Team Rogue singlet, and felt fine – not too cold, not too hot. There was a slight breeze, but nothing to worry about.
When the horn went off I was in the front of the corral 8. Frank Shorter blew the horn for us – neat! The previous corral group was about a quarter mile ahead of us. We took off and I felt fine so I just ran normally. I had to slow myself down and moderate my starting-line adrenaline rush. I caught up to the next group easily. Threading my way through the pack was awful. And the numerous turns on the course and narrow streets were very tough too. For the first 4-5 miles I was threading my way through the pack. Not very fun especially if you are running to get a good time. I was running on sidewalks, ducking and weaving, and dodging people all over the place. Sheesh!
Finally after several miles things opened up and the majority of runners were around my same pace. The miles slowly clicked by. I had my Mocha Clif Shot around 6.5 miles. Not knowing the course was hard because I couldn’t meter out my energy knowing what hills were coming. As I was running I was trying to calculate what it would take to break 1 hour 50 minutes. So for the second half I tried to push it a bit just in case I could do that. My groin issue was non-existent which was great. Getting from mile 12 to 13 seemed to take forever. At the end, around the Alamodome, we had to climb a hill (ugh!), turn a corner and there was the finish line. Done!
I completed in 1:49:44 (official). Woohoo! I broke 1:50. Also I was 10th out of 214 in my age group. My Garmin said that I had run 13.21 miles (so it’s a little bit off and it suggests that my times below are a bit faster than reality). Overall I felt good afterwards, that is, I was not totally wiped out, but in control, metered, tired but comfortable. Met Stephanie (actually she saw me). We found and talked to Steve. He said that other Rogue Elites and Team Rogue mens and womens had finished very well, that is, they has placed in many of the top places. He also said to take my time, double it, and add 10 minutes for my marathon time. That means I should complete in 3:50 (note: McMillan says 3:51:25 with an 8:50 pace) which is good, because my BQ is 4:00. I felt very satisfied with my performance. So I gotta keep it up, and look forward to CIM now – the real thing.
Garmin mile by mile is:
Mile Time 1 08:26 2 08:31 3 08:24 4 08:21 5 08:30 6 08:28 7 08:36 8 08:10 9 08:21 10 08:12 11 08:20 12 08:13 13 07:47 13.21 01:22
Official final time 1:49:44
The splits from the website are:
Split Time Pace 5K 0:26:21 8:29 10K 0:52:41 8:29 7.6Mi 1:02:12 8:11 10Mi 1:24:26 8:27 Finish 1:49:44 8:23
Cap 10K w/ Katie
Katie and I signed up for the Cap 10K a week or so ago. This was kinda late. I waited until the last minute to make sure that she would be healthy to do it with me. We signed up for the untimed race which means we start way way back at the end of the pack. This is no small race, there are over 18,000 people involved. So on Friday Katie picked up our race packets with T-shirts and our green bib numbers. The race was this morning. It was overcast, misting and the temperature was about 60 degrees Fahrenheit. We arrived early, paid money to park in a nearby lot and stayed in the car until 20 minutes before the start. Our plan was to run-walk it together – joined at the hip. We pressed our timers as we crossed the start line and began our first cycle of walking. After 3 minutes we pressed our timers and ran for 1:30. We continue this for the entire race. There were times when Katie (who became more and more quiet during the run portions) began to say that she wouldn’t be able to run, but with minor encouragement she labored on. We completed 3 miles in 41 minutes which was when I began to say that if we kept this up she could get a personal record (PR). Her last 10K was the IBM Uptown 10K at 1:31:20 where we ran 3 minutes and walked 1 minute. Well from mile 3 to mile 6 we kept missing the mileage markers (or maybe someone took them down!?). We began to worry that we wouldn’t beat it. But it was on the bridge at mile 6 with the end in sight that we realized that she would again PR easily. She completed in 1:23:55. Very nice! It was great to celebrate her accomplishment with water, bananas, potato chips, and a hot shower when we arrived home.
26.2 miles is a long way to run
Today’s Austin marathon was blessed with fantastic weather. It was cool and clear and about 44 degrees Fahrenheit at the start. Awesome. I was dressed in shorts, two shirts, gloves, headband and hat. I also had on old gloves, and an old sweatshirt which I tossed to the side of the road shortly into the race. Katie came with me which boosted my spirits. We parked at Rogue. She was going to walk to Enfield & Exposition which is at mile 10-11 to see me there and is about 2.5 miles away. We parted just outside of Rogue with her walking and me running to the start to warm-up. I sat there for 30 minutes on the curb with my sweatshirt over my knees and legs to keep warm. I followed my coach’s recommendation and started with the 4:00 hour pace group or 9:09 minutes per mile. At 7 AM after the National Anthem we started. It took a few minutes to actually get up to and cross the starting line there were so many people. The runners went up South Congress to Ben White. This is a three mile long 250 foot high hill – not an easy flat start. The pacers, there were two of them, were carrying their “4:00” yellow signs and were right on time up the hill. At mile 2 my watch said 18:23 or about 9:12. Not bad since we had to weave through the crowd constantly, and pass the walkers – just why they didn’t start at the back of the pack amazes me. What were they thinking. At about mile 3 I saw Angie, a running classmate, on the frontage road between Ben White and South 1st. We said hi, but I was into my iPod to keep my mind off things. I never saw any other runner from our class the rest of the way. On the way down South 1st hill I ran easy but sped up. So mile 3 and 4 took 17:36 or 8:48 per mile. I realize that I was now about 40 seconds ahead of the pacers and couldn’t see them. I tried to slow down, but the next mile, at mile 5, was 8:30. Now I was a 1 minute 18 seconds ahead. Sheesh. OK, so what should I do. Stop and wait for them. Nope. I decided to run my own race – pacers be damned. But I needed to slow down yet mile 6 was 8:41. Still not slow enough. At the water stop I drank my Carbo Pro, and stuffed in my shorts the empty bottle which I would later give to Katie. I missed the next mile marker, at mile 7, but I saw that on the next one, at mile 8, I had run it in 18:10 or 9:05 per mile. Now that’s more like it since I was to run a 9:09 pace. Mile 9 was 9:09 too. Good I was holding pace about 2 minutes ahead of the pace group which I no longer was worried about. I just needed to keep my pace constant. Mile 10 was 8:57 and I felt that was within allowances and kept going. Here I turned on to Exposition and searched for Katie. I took off my headband and gloves and took out my Carbo Pro bottle to give her. Also the crowd was thinner since the half-marathoners left us at the corner. Our agreed upon spot was on the right side of the road about 100 feet from the turn. However when I turned the corner I realized that they had blocked off that side for cars. I scanned the crowd and didn’t see her. I scanned the left side too and nothing. Where was her purple top. Then I saw her jumping up and down ahead on the right and holding a sign that said “Run Daddy Run”. Whew, I was beginning to think about what to do with the stuff I was carrying if she wasn’t there. I handed it to her and I was off. Maybe it was the confusion of finding her, but around that time I missed mile 11 marker. At Mile 12 I saw my pace was 9:00 per mile, and had a Choco Clif shot at the water stop. Good I was still on course and now about 2 1/2 minute ahead of my expected pace. I didn’t stop at all the water stops. In the past I would drink too much and get bloated. The hills were happening, but I didn’t really feel them. At mile 13 my pace was 9:56. What! I was slowing down. I realized that I had to be careful. Now was not the time to slack off. Or was this it. Was I going to fail. I felt OK, but why had my time slowed down. Then all was answered, because at mile 14 my pace was 7:28. No way. No way, no how. I think they placed the 13th mile marker wrong. Or had I actually seen the 13.1, half marathon distance, marker instead. I don’t know. So at mile 15 I saw that my pace was 8:54. OK, I was again on pace, and now about 3 minutes ahead of my expected pace. Now the boring hard part began. Up Great Northern. The distance dragged on and on. I passed mile 16 with a pace of 8:54. Good, still putting one foot in front of the other. I turned the corner near Northcross Mall. Geezer, my coach was coming up. Mile 17 was 8:53. Then a yelling banshee, my coach, was shouting. “You’ve got 8 miles to BOSTON”. I said that I was “about 3 minutes ahead” (actually I was over 4). I saw the 18 mile sign up ahead and passed it with a 9:00 pace. It was time for another Choco Clif Shot. I was still on my plan. I was still going, but I still had a long long way to go. Those next miles are the hardest. My stomach started to ache. I was beginning to fail yet I didn’t want to walk, but my stomach worried me. We turned the corner at Morrow and started heading south and down hill. Mile 19 was 8:40. Oops too fast. Save it Bri for later. Now I was almost 5 minute ahead of pace. Mile 20 was again 8:40. The downhill was helping, but a few small but dreaded uphills were coming. I was now in the middle of the twisty little roads all alike near the University of Texas intermural fields. At mile 21 my pace was 8:39. Well I was keeping pace, but it was faster than I liked. However my brain had totally shut off. I wasn’t thinking I was just running. Moving forward. The pace was faster that I should be going, but I was without will to stop myself. All I knew is that I wanted to have those minutes in the bank if I had to walk later. I was planning on my last Clif Shot at 24, but at Mile 23 with a pace of 9:16 I took it. I needed the caffeine that it contained. I was slowing down. I was beginning to think that if I now ran 10 minute miles for the last 3 mile I’d still make it in time. Weird how your mind plays these games. Yet I continued to run. The hill up 41st to Duval was coming up. It had walked it in earlier marathons. I focused as I went up it. I said to myself that I wasn’t going to walk it. I turned the corner and headed down Duval crossing mile 24 with a pace of 8:54. Duval was the point where if I had anything left I would speed up. Well there wasn’t much left although I only had 2.2 mile to go. I crossed into the University of Texas campus at mile 25 my pace was 8:50. Most of my mind and body was numb with exhaustion. The last hill was approaching. It was up MLK to Congress and then up Congress to the Capitol. I started to walk. I knew I had the time in the bank. In past years I had walked this whole section – it is not something I want to remember. This year I worked so hard for so many miles for so many hours that I told myself that I needed to run, to shuffle, to do anything, but not walk. After a few yards I started running again. Up the MLK hill. Up the Congress rise. Mile 26 pace was 9:44. One of my slowest. But I knew on the other side of the Capitol building was a downhill and the finish. Like a stiff robot I ran around the Capitol and down the hill and into the final chute. I could see the clock up ahead. It read 3 hours 59 minutes and the seconds were ticking off 21…22…23.
Mile Expect Actual 1 9:09 [missed] 2 18:19 18:23 3 27:28 [missed] 4 36:38 36:00 5 45:48 44:30 6 54:57 53:11 7 1:04:07 [missed] 8 1:13:16 1:11:21 9 1:22:26 1:20:31 10 1:31:36 1:29:28 11 1:40:45 [missed] 12 1:49:55 1:47:29 13 1:59:05 1:57:25 long? 14 2:08:14 2:04:54 short? 15 2:17:24 2:13:48 16 2:26:33 2:22:42 17 2:35.43 2:31:35 18 2:44:53 2:40:35 19 2:54:02 2:49:16 20 3:03:12 2:57:55 21 3:12:21 3:06:35 22 3:21:31 3:15:19 23 3:30:41 3:24:36 24 3:39:50 3:33:29 25 3:49:00 3:42:19 26 3:58:10 3:52:04 M 4:00:00 3:53:51
3M Half Marathon
I got up early to avoid the traffic, and arrived at 5:40 AM. I sat in the car with the heat on until 6:15 and then did a 1.5 mile warm-up. It was windy out. While waiting for the start I kept worrying that I had on too much clothing, but the temperature and wind felt especially chilly to me. When it was all over the two layers, gloves and cap were fine. I listened to my iPod the entire time to help distract me. The organizers had to delay the 6:45 start for 30-45 minutes, because some barriers blew over along the course. We finally started and I tried, really tried, to maintain MGP for the first 8 miles. After that we were allowed to speed up if we wanted to – if we had it in us. The miles were: 8:24, 9:24 (slowed down too much, so sped up again), 8:35*, 8:35*, 8:03 (downhill), 9:14 (water), 8:26, 8:34*, 8:35*, 8:23, 7:48, 7:48, 7:31, 0:46 [* forgot to press timer, so halved split]. I know, I know, I went out too fast and just couldn’t slow down – sheesh. Near the end, when going down Duval I cranked it up. The wind was at my back too. I was happy that I had the energy at the end and did not break my form. Also no cramps or pains. At the end I was trying to break 1:50, but completed in 1:50:11. What’s strange is that I should be ecstatic with my time and my energy level, but I’m slightly bummed because I didn’t break 1:50 and I wasn’t even racing especially early on when I was trying to run at MGP. Final pace was 8:25 minute/mile. Overall it was a good race.
Update: Oh two more things, I ended 8th in my age 60-64 group, and today my name was in the paper because I was a top 10 finisher for my age group. Very nice!
Decker Half Marathon
Woke at 5 AM. Cold and misting. Did my 40 minute warm-up by myself at 7 AM. Race started at 8 AM. Planned to run 8:42/mile. This is what McMillan said I needed to do to complete a marathon in 4 hours. I felt comfortable, that is, I ran easy. Ankle muscle didn’t tighten up. Whew! What a relief. Early on accidentally lost my Carbo-pro. It fell out. Mile after mile at about 8:30/mile pace. Breathing well, not gasping. Only had Mocha Cliff Shot at mile 6. Up and down the hills. Started breathing hard up the last hills. However the last two miles became a death march. Did not feel good. Shaded the overall experience. Ended in 1:50:59 with a 8:28/mile pace, which beat my plan of 1:53:58. Neat. Confidence building with regards to my marathon goal, but nagging worry why I had such a hard time during the last two miles especially the crappy run inside the expo grounds. Why do I alway hate that expo grounds section. Afterwards I stripped off my wet clothes and changed into dry ones. The wet ones must have weighed pounds. Maybe that helped make it so tough. Or did I go out too fast? Or was it the lack of fuel? Or maybe I just don’t have it in me? Argh!
Update: After the race I looked for my Carbo-pro bottle. I walked the entire outer boundary of the expo center looking. It was still cold and miserable. I was shivering. All I had on was shorts, a shirt, and a fleece. The two mile loop took me a hour to gimp along looking it. I got back to my car and left the center driving slowly while looking at the side of the road. About a mile up the road I found the bottom and top about a foot apart.
01 8:01.17
02 8:36.44
03 8:24.87
04 8:27.88
05 9:31.63 (why is this so long?!)
06 8:22.37
07 8:35.00
08 8:08.00
09 8:17.21
10 8:39.18
11 8:51.61
12 8:28.00
13 7:57.12 (this seems too short)
13.1 1:44.60
IBM Uptown 10K w/ Katie
Today Katie and I ran the IBM Uptown 10K, or more exactly we ran-walked it. Katie has been regularly exercising with Austin Fit for weeks. I’m so proud of her doing this. So I thought it would be good for us to do a race together. I had done my long run yesterday, so today was we stuck together and shared each other’s company, and the great weather. The race started at 8 AM, and we walked for 4 minutes and ran for 1 minute. When she walked I walked, and when she ran I ran. It was fun and I clowned around with the volunteers, and the other runner’s who were around us. I probably embarrassed my daughter. I’m so sorry Katie – NOT. I had a great time, and hopefully she did too. We completed in 1:31:20. This is a new Personal Record (PR) for Katie, but it wasn’t her first 10K having completed the Capital 10K a few years back. We took pictures before and after, and if she posts them I’ll update this entry.
Update: See Katie’s post for pictures: IBM Classic 10K
Cap 10K
Cap 10K was very nice, but I ran by myself and listened to my iPod. I wish I had friends to run with. Nevertheless I had great weather, but a bit chilly at the start, yet once I got going it was great. What surprised me was that I started out slow with the massive crowd, and didn’t see the mile markers until mile 3 which I completed in 27:35 or about 9:11/M. Last year I completed in 56 or about 9:03/M so I was thinking to myself that I wasn’t going to beat last year’s time. Yet I wasn’t going to worry about the time. However I did mile 4 in 8:43, then I thought I did mile 5 in 9:02 (sigh), but I still kept up my pace, and afterwards it was really 8:02 (wow!), the last mile was 8:01 which I never even glanced at while I trundled along, and the last two tenths was 1:28. Finished in 53:50 or 8:37/M. Better than last year. Yeah! Not bad, not bad at all. I remember during those last miles that I was passing people. No wonder… since I was running my butt off.
Austin Half Marathon
I finished the Austin Half Marathon in a disappointing 2:01. Just a few weeks ago I completed the 3M Half Marathon in 1:46. Zowie that’s over 1 minute per mile difference. I just never really felt good running today. I felt stiff, clumsy, and slow. The hills didn’t help either. Also I didn’t hydrate and fuel well thoughout. Afterwards I drove and stopped at mile 17 and near mile 23 to look for Terry, one of my running buds from this year. I saw him with the 4:30 group at mile 23 looking good. Best wishes friend. The year’s running course doesn’t end with a bang, but a whimper.
